Should Surgeons Do Endoscopy? A Survey

Endoscopic procedures are part and parcel of surgical practice. The need of endoscopic procedure is highest in the peripheral rural places but majority of the endoscopic services are concentrated in bigger cities. Only a small percentage of surgeons are doing endoscopy. To know the status of endoscopy services by surgeons, we conducted an online survey. We conducted a Google form-based survey of medical college faculty, surgeons, and surgical postgraduate students. A Google form was created and shared with the heads of the department of general surgery of all medical colleges and also in all the known surgeons’ groups on social media like Whatsapp and Facebook across India. A total of 389 surgeons responded. More than 95% of the surgeons felt that surgeons should do endoscopy. But, the reality was quite different. The survey revealed that only 228/389 (58%) of the participants were doing upper GI endoscopy, and only 168 (43%) and 31(8%) of them were doing colonoscopy and ERCP, respectively. Although 363 participants felt endoscopy should be taught during postgraduate training, only 84/152 (55%) medical college faculties said they are teaching endoscopy to their postgraduate students. Teaching was largely limited to diagnostic upper GI endoscopy. There is a great need for endoscopists in India, especially in peripheral and rural areas. Surgeons should be adequately trained in endoscopy in a formal and structured format. Also, establishing endoscopy training centers, and credentialing of the surgeons is the need of the hour.